Engineers are REALLY soopid!

[bk42261]

My wife has a 2008 VW Rabbit, and the transmission is starting to act up a little.
I thought "No problem, I'll check the Fluid Level, and add some.
Open the hood looking for the dipstick to check it. No joy, so I look on the Interwebs, and apparently you need to put the car up on a lift just to CHECK the fluid level!!

WTH? Didn't even delve into it beyond that point, but how stupid is that?

 

[Krogen]

I had a '76 280Z "a few years ago." Easy to change oil; you could do it from the top without jacking it up. The filter was in plain view on the side of the engine. The drain plug also visible on the pan. Just kick a drain pan underneath, remove the filter and the drain plug.

To change a headlight, you had to jack it up, remove the appropriate front wheel and pull the headlight out from the backside.

Go figure . . . .

 

[Jinglebob]

My wife drives a Ford Focus. I went to check the transmission fluid but there was no dip stick. I talked with Ford customer service and was told that the transmission is filled and sealed at the factory.

I guess if it ever develops a leak the transmission would have to be rebuilt, filled and sealed. STUPID!!!

 

[michael1000]

My wife drives a Ford Focus. I went to check the transmission fluid but there was no dip stick. I talked with Ford customer service and was told that the transmission is filled and sealed at the factory.

I guess if it ever develops a leak the transmission would have to be rebuilt, filled and sealed. STUPID!!!

My daughter had a Chevy Cavalier some years ago. No dipstick. The owner's manual said to take it in if there was indication that the fluid was low/leaking.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Modern cars are not designed to be owner-serviceable at all. The days of doing your own tuneups and maintenance are all but gone. I have a small fortune invested in Craftsman mechanics tools that I hardly ever use. I can't even remember the last time I used my timing light or dwell tach...

 

[TX-Dennis]

I had a '76 280Z "a few years ago." Easy to change oil; you could do it from the top without jacking it up. The filter was in plain view on the side of the engine. The drain plug also visible on the pan. Just kick a drain pan underneath, remove the filter and the drain plug.

To change a headlight, you had to jack it up, remove the appropriate front wheel and pull the headlight out from the backside.

Go figure . . . .

Seems at least halfway reasonable. One changes oil much more frequently than headlights (or so I would hope). Years ago I had a Mazda 6. Headlight went out, so I looked in the owners manual to see what replacement lamp was specified. The owners manual claimed that a headlight could only be replaced by the dealership. I looked inside, pulled the old lamp out the back of the housing easily, took it to the parts store, and bought a new one. Easy peasy. They were just trying to make money for their dealers.

 

[Beemerguy53]

My daughter had a Chevy Cavalier some years ago. No dipstick. The owner's manual said to take it in if there was indication that the fluid was low/leaking.

I have a 2018 BMW M2, and it too lacks a dipstick. To check the oil, you park the car on a level surface and select that function on the menu. The center display then shows you the oil level.

 

[waffles]

Not a new thing, a lot of these are built to be a "sealed system" you're not supposed to monkey with. VW is annoying with special parts and procedures (I had a $1500 2008 Jetta), but id say on the glass half full side the fact that you've had 14 years of economy car ownership without needing to find out about this sooner says something positive about the engineers.

 

[375hh1973]

I had a headlight out on my F-150. Then next time I took it to the dealer for an oil change I asked them to change the headlight.

Cost me $9

Would have paid triple that

 

[jeffrefrig]

I haven't been able to check tranny fluid in any of my Chevys for quite a few years. I believe pretty much all the GM cars are like that. There is an idiot light, though that tells you when the level is low. There's a plug on the side of the motor tranny thing that they pull off and stick their finger in to check level, I think. I try not to keep a car long enough to worry about that stuff. Not sure, but I think there may be a dip stick in the '10 Subaru for the transmission; can't remember. Daughter drives that one. I remember in the old days the brake fluid and power steering fluid came in the same type bottle. Amazing how that rubber thing inside the brake reservoir lid will swell up if you put power steering fluid in accidentally!
I looked under the hood at my wife's '22 Trailblazer because I wanted to see what the 3-cylinder engine looks like. I'm still wondering!

 

[Onomea]

Modern cars are not designed to be owner-serviceable at all. The days of doing your own tuneups and maintenance are all but gone...

Yay!

 

[Rustyt1953]

 

[Grayfox]

Don't forget the bean counters. They and the engineers are in cahoots to keep customers from doing any kind of work on their vehicles.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Ford mustangs have to be put on a rack. jacked to remove the plug and ck the trans fluid. STINKS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LVSteve]

You cannot change the headlights on many modern vehicles without disassembly of most of the front clip. Looked at doing it on an '06 Eclipse once. Errrm, no. I did manage to do it on an '05 Xterra, but I had to pull out the fender liners, the grille, and half the front bumper covers.

 

[steelslaver]

Here is another fun fact the dealership is required to buy all the "necessary" factory tools and equipment so they can sell some models. I wonder how the dealership will recoup that money???

 

[BC38]

Engineers are SOOPID, eh? At least most of us can spell.

I'm not crazy about the sealed tranny systems or lack of a dipstick either, but if there are no signs of leakage the tranny fluid shouldn't ever need topping up.

Engine oil on the other hand is a different story. Even new engines burn some oil. Hopefully not enough to get low between changes, but once they get a couple of hundred thousand miles on them almost all will get rid of a quart before it is time for a change - especially with the longer 5k-10k recommended change intervals of newer cars.

It isn't a case of the engineers and beancounters being in cahoots though. It is a case of the beancounters dictating to the engineers that they have to cut costs/keep costs below a certain price point. 99% of all engineers I've ever met will over-engineer almost anything they design if they are given free reign - but the cost of that over-engineering is prohibited by the beancouters. If deleting the dipstick and dipstick tube and the machined hole for it to fit into saves $10 per car, the beancounters will over-rule the engineers and delete it from the design.

Its just the way it works in the modern world.

 

[Alk8944]

My wife has a 2008 VW Rabbit, and the transmission is starting to act up a little.
I thought "No problem, I'll check the Fluid Level, and add some.
Open the hood looking for the dipstick to check it. No joy, so I look on the Interwebs, and apparently you need to put the car up on a lift just to CHECK the fluid level!!

WTH? Didn't even delve into it beyond that point, but how stupid is that?

SOOPID????? And you said the engineers are stupid! No, they are doing just what they are expected to, design the new cars so the owners cannot do even the simplest maintenance on them. Have to take it to the dealer, keeps them in business and making money at over $100/hour plus, for repairs you used to do yourself.

 

[Frank46]

My GMC Sierra is a 2007 model. Cam't use the old dexronIII, now you hsve
to use the newer Dexron VI (6) full synthetic tyranny oil. Think folks are hoarding motor oil for personal vehicles. And diesel fuel vehicles Went to 3 different places and it seamed that the shelves were abnormably bare.Rotella 15-40 .no quarts, Castroil 15-40 only gallons no quarts. Same for other popular brands,Frank

 

[Breakaway500]

When someone asks me why I charge them a small fee to replace their windshield wiper blades on many modern vehicles, I hand them the directions that come with the blades. After a couple of minutes they gladly pay, and sometimes tip..